Malaria eradication is a “bold but attainable goal” that could be achieved by 2050, according to a report from 41 of the world’s leading malaria researchers.
Increased investment in malaria elimination from $1.5 billion in 2000 to $4.3 billion in 2016 helped reduce the number of countries with endemic malaria from 106 to 86. The annual incidence also fell by 36%, and the yearly death rate declined by 60%. But building on those successes and combating a recent surge in malaria cases in 55 countries will take greater commitment, wrote the Lancet Commission on Malaria Eradication, a joint effort launched with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in 2017.